Know where Seattle's AEDs are located? You could win $10,000!

This month, Seattleites can join in a life-saving scavenger hunt.

From Oct. 15-Nov. 15, local residents will compete to identify and report the locations of Seattle’s automatic external defibrillators (AEDs).  With cash prizes ranging from $50 to $10,000, this is definitely one scavenger hunt we’re eager to get started!

AEDs are electronic, brief-case size devices designed to allow bystanders to help someone who has collapsed as a result of cardiac arrest.  Often, cardiac arrest is due to ventricular fibrillation (VF); AEDs simplify analysis of heart rhythm so lay persons can recognize and treat VF before the arrival of emergency medical services providers.  Each device has voice and visual prompts that guide bystanders through the steps necessary to help someone with a medical emergency.

AEDs are cost-effective lifesavers that are often located in places where cardiac arrests are most likely to occur, such as airports, sports clubs and shopping malls.  There are now more than 1.2 million AEDs in public places across the United States, and roughly 180,000 more are installed each year.

But what happens if a bystander can’t locate the nearest AED during an emergency? That’s a concern the My HeartMap Seattle Challenge is hoping to address.  According to Dr. Graham Nichol, University of Washington professor of medicine and Medic One Foundation Endowed Chair for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care at UW Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center, “Our list of AED locations may be incomplete.  We are seeking the public’s help to learn where more of these devices are.”

To register to participate in My HeartMap Seattle Challenge, click here and follow the link to My HeartMap Seattle Registration.  Then, starting Oct. 15, each time you locate an AED in Seattle, report a brief description of the AED and its location on the contest website.  The team or individual that identifies the most unique AEDs will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize.  Additionally, 20 $50 prizes are available; twenty AEDs in the city of Seattle have been pre-selected as “Golden AEDs.”  Be the first to locate and report one of these specially designated devices and win $50!

Just over one week to get your team ready – on your mark, get set, go!